According to my construction paper countdown chain, opening day is just one week away. As such, Girardino has been hard at work tweaking his roster, and while most of the spots are filled he's still accepting resumes for a few.

He's selected his starting rotation - Wangster, Dandy Andy, Mike "My Pitching is Like a Box of Chocolates; You Never Know What You're Gonna Get," Hughsie, and I-Ken - but the bullpen still has some question marks. The plan is to go with seven relievers, and only four men have secured themselves spots: Jobamania, Farnsworthless, LaTroy Hawkins, and Mo. There are 16 pitchers down in Tampa trying to make an impression on Girardi in hopes of making the roster, but he has said that there are really only eight or nine that realistically have a chance (sorry, other dudes, you're efforts have been for naught.) Let's take a look at the most viable options:

Kei Igawa: Please go away. Cut your losses, Yanks.

Jeff Karstens: He's got a 9.64 ERA in 9 1/3 innings this spring, but the Yanks seem to like him and I would imagine that if he's not on the opening day roster, we'll be seeing him at some point this year.

Darrel Rasner: The Yanks showed that they have faith in him by signing him to a $7.25K contract this winter, and he's had a good spring, too. Mark him down as one of the three, methinks.

Billy Traber: This journeyman pulled an Aaron Small and came out of nowhere with a bout of impressive pitching - no earned runs allowed in 6 2/3 innings pitched. He's already on the 40-man roster, so expect to see him on the 25-man edition.

Scott Patterson: He's never pitched above AA level, but he had an awesome 2007 in Trenton with a 1.07 ERA in 43 appearances. Since he's never pitched even in AA he probably isn't going to start the season with the team, but it's good to keep our eye on folks like this.

There's only a few days left for Girardi to make his choice, so we'll know soon enough. Oh, and if you were wondering what he is looking for, the answer is simple: "Strikes is No. 1 for me. You have to be able to throw strikes. If you can't throw strikes, it's hard to have a lot of faith in what you're throwing out there."

Genius!